Your account is now created!

Thank you for joining Human Resources IQ

Join a Group
Start creating groups on and network with other professionals by creating communities around issues that are important to you. You'll also be able to join event-related groups to extend the networking and learning experience online. Get Started!

Complete your profile
Your Profile will allow you to monitor the latest activity. Keep updated on the latest group activity, see contact status, and easily find the answers to your questions. Get Started!

View Content
By inviting your colleagues today, they will gain access to the growing library of multimedia content and networking tools available.

About Us

Showcase your organization to the largest human resources professional community with Human Resources IQ's bespoke promotional packages.

Online Community Sponsorship Opportunities

Our online community represents an increasingly valuable channel for solution providers to demonstrate year-round thought leadership in specific areas in a cost and time effective way.

Would you like to know more?
Call now 1-212-885-2771
Email at: Simon.Copcutt@iqpc.comSimon Copcutt
Head of Sponsorship

Meet Human Resources IQ

Providing an international resource center for the human resources professional, Human Resources IQ delivers insightful, unbiased information about today's 'hot topics' around the world. Meet the team today!

Social Networking

Connect, Follow, Like and Share with the human resources and human capital community via Human Resources IQ's interactive social channels.

Advertise with Us

Showcase your organization to the largest human resources professional community with Human Resources IQ's bespoke promotional packages.

Online Community Sponsorship Opportunities

Our online community represents an increasingly valuable channel for solution providers to demonstrate year-round thought leadership in specific areas in a cost and time effective way.

Would you like to know more?
Call now 1-212-885-2771
Email at: Simon.Copcutt@iqpc.comSimon Copcutt
Head of Sponsorship

Contributors

Brings together key industry players, thought leaders and global innovators from the human resources community to address latest challenges and provide HR executives with the thinking, the knowledge and the skills required to make human resources a results-focused activity. To find out more details, visit our writers guidelines.

Contact Us

We are always eager to hear from our members. Contact the Human Resources IQ team here and give us your feedback, opinions and ideas.

Advisory Board

The Human Resources IQ advisory board consists of key thinkers and thought leaders in the Human Resources space. These seasoned industry experts guide the topics on the Human Resources IQ site in addition to frequently contributing content and media. These industry leaders were selected due to the caliber of their work within their respective areas of expertise. Learn more.

Media Partners

Collaborating with trade journals and publishers to bring news and education to the human resources community? Partner with us today!

How to Achieve Job Retention and Make Yourself an Irreplaceable Employee

Although the economy is showing some signs that it may be leveling off from its long plunge into recession, the number of layoffs still outweighs the number of new hires. Like most people, you may be wondering how secure your own job is and how to retain your job. In fact, even before the economic crisis began, most employees’ jobs were less secure than they were a generation ago. Employers no longer feel obligated to retain employees when there’s any chance of profiting by hiring consultants, offshoring the work, applying automation or finding some other way to slash payroll expenses.

Nevertheless, certain employees are secure in their jobs because they are irreplaceable. Wouldn’t you like to be one of them and make sure you retain your job?

Six Tips for Becoming an Irreplaceable Employee and Retaining Your Job

1. Focus on your employer’s core mission. Every business has a central function that is the key to its success. As the business attempts to diversify by taking on other roles, perhaps by entering new markets, you may be tempted to serve a peripheral function because it is interesting, perhaps even pioneering. But beware of getting out of the mainstream of your employer’s business. When times are hard, the company is likely to lay off the business units that do not serve its core mission.

2. Keep your skills up to date. It is your responsibility, not your employer’s, to identify the skills you need and to make sure you get the necessary training. One way to do both is to join a professional association and attend its meetings and workshops. Blogs and trade publications that cover your industry may also provide hints about what new skills you should be acquiring.

3. Be highly productive. Your improved skills will help you turn out work that is of better quality and quantity. You may also consider doing the tasks that other employees are avoiding. Working longer hours after the boss leaves may not be useful if the results of your extra work are not visible.

4. Be visible. You may have noticed that the employee who gets the best raise each year is the one who sits closest to the boss’s office. It helps for your employer to know who you are and what great work you’re doing. Consider starting a newsletter, bulletin board, blog, or Twitter feed about your current project. Invite suggestions from readers so that they will buy into your project and so your communications will not look purely self-promotional. Blogging or tweeting will also gain you visibility in your industry, which is helpful in case this job comes to an end. If you don’t feel knowledgeable enough to maintain a blog, consider being a frequent commenter on an existing blog. Also, volunteer to serve on a committee for your professional association; they always need willing workers.

5. Acquire a mentor. Find someone who is knowledgeable about the business. Be helpful to this person and ask a lot of very specific questions, especially about how to improve your work. Be sure to give public recognition to the mentor for the advice you get.

6. Be pleasant. Being abrasive may make you stand out, but for the wrong reasons. Back-stabbing may seem like a way to get ahead, but it can backfire on you. Even though performance appraisals attempt to reduce job performance to hard, measurable facts, things people say about you informally still have a huge impact on your employer’s perceptions of you.

Dr. Lawrence Shatkin is a Senior Product Developer at JIST, with 30 years in the field of career information. He has been a researcher for Educational Testing Service, where he helped develop the SIGI PLUS computer-based career information system. He oversaw the updating and enhancement of the SIGI PLUS database for over 15 years. He has served as president and as a board member for the Association of Computer-based Systems of Career Information. His consulting company, Verbal Media, developed the Career Oasis system for the King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals in Saudi Arabia.

Shatkin co-authored Best Jobs for the 21st Century (5th Edition), 150 Best Recession-Proof Jobs, 50 Best Jobs for Your Personality, and 150 Best Low-Stress Jobs. He also authored the Quick Guide to College Majors & Careers, Great Jobs in the President’s Stimulus Plan, and Your $100,000 Career Plan.

Anandplanet: My comments in the paragraph numbered 4 indicate ways you can be visible (for example, a blog) without being physically near. Miki: The situation you describe is a great challenge and may defeat all of the strategies I mentioned. However, I should add that these strategies would aid your chances of finding a job elsewhere if they fail to save your present job.
Replies (0)

Dear Dr. Shatkin, I really liked the tips - especially which comes handy in the right moment. I have one critique - does it always requires to be close to the boss's office to build vicinity? How can one do this virtually who do not have the advantage of being in that geographical proximity - Thanks Anand
Replies (0)

Hello!
It is an interesting article, generalising a little the current situation.
Let me challange with the following situation:
- employee, part of division where the manager has been changed. The new manager has brought with him the team from the previous working place. In this conditions where the company loyal employee is backstabb by his new co-workers, what he/she can do to save his position/job?
Replies (0)

Explore Categories

Networking

Advertise With Us

Reach Human Resource professionals through cost-effective marketing opportunities to deliver your message, position yourself as a thought leader, and introduce new products, techniques and strategies to the market.Learn More >>

Join Human Resources IQ

Join today and interact with a vibrant network of human resource professionals, keeping up to date with the human resources industry by accessing our wealth of HR articles, videos, online seminars, live conferences and more.
Sign Up Today!